Brother's Keeper
by staceycj
Summary: Dean is the protector of Sam's soul. S6
1. Chapter 1

AN: I was looking through posts after this week's ep, and there was a theory on the CW forums that inspired this.

* * *

"Dean? Dean Winchester?" Dean turned at the sound of the high pitched southern drawl, and found Missouri Mosely.

Dean couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, hey there Missouri."

"What are you doing here? I thought you swore you would never come back to Lawrence." She smiled and laughed to herself before she continued, "But you've been back several times since you made that promise." Dean's eyes widened, the shock would always be there despite the fact that he knew she could read every last thought in his head.

"Yeah. I'm here because of Sam and my grandfather. Apparently there is a hunt here."

"And you want to stay as far away from where the hunt is as possible." She said knowingly.

"Yeah." Dean said with a rough voice. Sam and Samuel were headed somewhere in the vicinity of Stull cemetery, and he just couldn't quite force himself to go that way, couldn't force himself to be near where he lost his brother, where the Earth had swallowed him up and spit out the robot that only looked and sounded like his brother.

A wave of emotions hit Missouri, emotions that had more pictures attached then she could ever decipher and put into a logical order. They hit her with such a force that she wavered, she got dizzy, she closed her eyes, and she brought her hand to her forehead. Dean put a hand on her elbow and steadied her. She opened her eyes and saw the calm concern in Dean's, she focused on that, and then all of the dizziness and wavering stopped.

"You okay?"

"I'll be fine boy, but you really need to learn to control what goes through your head."

Immediate guilt. "I'm sorry. I was…"

"Just being you I think."

"Yeah." Dean said with sadness.

"Why don't we go for coffee young man, you can explain all of these pictures that you just threw at me."

"That sounds good."

"And you're paying." Dean gave a genuine smile.

"Yes ma'am."

SNSNSNSNSNSN

"No wonder your mind is such a jumble." Missouri said after Dean told her every last detail that had landed him in his current position. "And that is why you are worried about Sam, because he has no soul."

That was the one thing that Dean hadn't told her. His eyes jumped from his cup to the woman in front of him, he almost couldn't take the concern in her eyes, "Yeah. Now, my brother has no soul. And it's not like he did anything to save the world. Not like he went into the cage with the root of all evil voluntarily or anything. You know. His body can be free up here running around killing innocent things while his soul is in the pit being tortured or trapped on a shelf somewhere in Crowley's lair with a ninja demon monk guarding him." Dean took a sip of his coffee and then gave a bitter laugh. "For all we really know, Sam's soul has been destroyed and there is nothing left of him, and we are running around doing a demon's bidding being his puppets when really there is no hope of Sam becoming a real boy." He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"Why are you looking so many places for Sam's soul?" Dean looked up.

"What do you mean? I mean, it could be anywhere. Hell is a big place, trust me I know."

Missouri pulled her chair closer to Dean. "Boy turn your chair to face me." He did so and she looked him in the eyes, and put her hands on his cheeks.

"Baby, you are so special. You know that." Dean tried to turn away but her firm hands on his face wouldn't allow it, he turned his eyes down. "Look at me." She demanded. He did so unwillingly. "Now, there is a reason you are so special."

"I'm Michael's vessel?"

"No." She smacked him lightly on the face. "No. That doesn't make you special, that makes you unfortunate." That earned Missouri a smile. "No. You are your brother's keeper."

"Great. So I was put on Earth to keep Sam in line. Bang up job I've done." That earned him another slap.

"You did…"

"If you say 'you did the best you could' I'll just leave. Because if the best I can do is to let my brother die, go to hell, suffer with Lucifer, and now to be a breathing corpse with no soul, then I have every reason to be ashamed of myself."

"You did do the best you could do. And that's why he's right here with you."

"It's only his body. It's not Sam."

"Sam is with you. Your Sam is right here with you."

"I don't understand…what are you talking about. Sam is being held hostage…"

"Not hostage. He's very comfortable where he is. He's like a cat, comfortable and curled up and snuggled up with you. He's right with you Dean. I know it. I can't tell you how. But he's with you. I sense people before I see them, I almost didn't know it was you. I don't understand. But that's what I know. Talk to your angel friend."

Hope overwhelmed Dean in such a flood that Missouri leaned back in her chair. Dean's emotions were so intense that it was hard to sit close to him. "Go, go, talk to your angel friend, he'll know what to do."

Dean did something that he would never have done all of those years ago, he reached across and hugged her tightly. "Thank you."

SNSNSNSNSN

"Cass! Get your feathery ass down here! I need you! I need help! Please!" Dean yelled as he paced the open space of the motel room. A sound of feathers and a whosh of air and Cass, haggard and tired was standing in front of him.

"What?" He asked without preamble.

"I need you to check my soul."

"Dean…"

"Please. I think we may have missed something."

Castiel closed his eyes and sighed. "Dean. It is painful."

"I don't care. Just do it. I can handle it. I've been to hell. I can handle any kind of torture you can dish out." Dean sat down on the bed and pulled his belt out of its loops and put in his mouth and bit down. "Come on Cass." He said through the belt. His eyes urged Castiel to perform the procedure.

"Okay." He decided that it would simply be easier to perform the procedure then to understand the motivation behind the request. Even when he had been closer to human, he hadn't understood Dean Winchester. Castiel decided that it would be best to simply not ask and to simply do, it would probably be quicker, and allow him to get back to Heaven and command his troops.

Castiel rolled his sleeves up and sat leaned over the bed. He braced one hand against the bed and shoved the other into Dean's body, tried to ignore the screams, tried not to feel what Dean was feeling, the bond they shared gave him the unfortunate side effect of feeling the echo what Dean felt, and it was always draining on the angel. Whatever Dean felt, he felt intensely.

This time however, there was something else he felt when he explored Dean's soul. Whatever it was, it started to fight, with all of its might, it didn't like that Castiel was hurting Dean, it was fighting with all of it's metaphysical strength to push Castiel out, to make it quit hurting Dean. And because Cass was so shocked, it succeeded in propelling Cass out of Dean's body and when Dean finally opened his eyes he saw Castiel on the other side of the room looking at him like he was a creature.

"How is that possible?" Castiel asked in a whisper.

"What? Is what possible?" Dean asked panicked.

"Sam…..Sam's soul….Sam's soul is in you."


	2. Chapter 2

Dean sat up on the bed, hand on his chest, breathing hard. "What?"

"Sam." Cass said struggling to stand up. "Sam, is inside you."

"How?"

"I do not know. It is unprecedented."

"How do we get him into his own body?"

"I do not know Dean."

"This is great. Just friggin' great." Dean said swinging his legs over the side of the bed and running a hand up and down his face, the other hand still clutching his chest.

"Are you still in pain?" Castiel asked. Dean looked at the angel confused and Castiel indicated Dean's hand on his chest. "You are holding your chest as if you are in pain."

Dean slowly let his hand drop from his chest and shook his head. "No. No. I'm fine." He responded with his standard almost patented Dean Winchester response. He licked his lips and looked up at the angel. "I—how long has he been in here?" Dean asked, brows knitted together.

"That is a good question. Perhaps as long as Sam's body has been out of hell. Perhaps his soul never made it into the pit; it may have sought you out just as his body was falling into the pit. However, that is highly unlikely, because I don't think Sam would be capable of separating his soul from his body on his own."

"No. I don't think that was one of Sam's hidden talents." Dean said sarcastically. He took a breath and tried to come to grips with the information, tried to figure out how exactly this could have happened without his knowledge, how he could have been carrying his brother's soul around inside of him for possibly a whole year.

"You're sure it's Sam?" Dean asked finally, he had to be sure, had to be positive that it was his brother that he was carrying around, and not some spirit that had latched onto his life force, or a demon that was just waiting for a good time to spring out and yell hello, and use his body to murder people in the name of evil. Because it would have to be a hoot for a demon to be able to use the arch-angel Michael's vessel to cause suffering and pain to those he sacrificed everything to save.

"I am sure. Every human soul has a certain vibration. And I was in Sam's company long enough to feel his vibration. It is truly Sam." Dean nodded, trying not to let his emotions show on his face. In some ways this was a relief, and in some ways this was a huge undertaking. Sam's very soul relied on him to stay healthy, stay alive, to keep him safe on a level he had never needed before, and above all, Sam's soul expected him to get him back to the comfort and safety of his own gigantic body.

"Dean?" Castiel asked jarring him from his worries. Dean looked up. "It is truly Sam you house, it was his desire to protect your soul, to keep you safe that made me retreat from my mission. His soul has become a guardian of yours. It is your brother in his purest form: loyal, caring, loving, fierce, and protective. It is who Sam was meant to be without the blood, without the destiny, without all of the…" Castiel searched for the words, and finally concluded, "without all of the crap tainting him."

Dean nodded. "We need to get him into his own body again."

"This would probably be the ideal situation."

"How do we do it?"

"As I said before, I don't know. This isn't something that has occurred frequently, if at all, since the beginning of time."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, leave it to us Winchesters to screw something up."

"The two of you do seem to have a knack for finding trouble."

"Thanks Cass." Dean said with a snarky edge.

"You're welcome." Dean closed his eyes and sighed. "I do not believe that you should tell Sam or Samuel."

"Agreed. I don't want them to know that I'm the one with the goods. I need to get us to Bobby's. He'll know what to do."

"Is he the one who alerted you to this potential situation?"

"No. An old psychic friend did."

"Maybe you should go back to them and see what he or she knows."

SNSNSNSNSN

It was more work than it used to be to escape Sam's notice and away without his questioning. But luckily there was a pretty girl to distract Sam for the evening, apparently even soulless guys needed sex, who knew?

Dean was just about to knock on Missouri's door when she opened it, disheveled and in her night clothes.

"Boy, what are you doing here at this time of night without calling first? Don't you have any manners?"

"I'm sorry Missouri. I'm really sorry, but this was the only time I could get away from my brother. I really need to talk to you. I'm sorry." His repeated apologies and his sad scared eyes softened her and she opened the door all of the way. "Come in, come in boy. Don't just stand there." She led him into the kitchen and ordered him to sit, and she poured the two of them a cup of coffee. Missouri sat down in front of him and tried very very hard not to listen to the litany of worried words that were streaming through his brain.

"It's about Sam, isn't it? I was right before."

"Yeah. My angel friend checked. Sam is with me." Dean's mouth hovered above the cup. "Boy oh boy is he with me." He said and took a sip of the warm brew. "Sam's soul is inside of me."

Missouri sat back in her chair with an audible intake of breath. "Can you feel him?" she asked.

"No. Cass said that he was there, and I had no idea." He took another sip. "Is there a way you can talk to him?" Dean asked almost ashamed.

"I can try." She said and leaned forward. "I've never done this before."

"Hey, I've never had another person sharing my body before. It'll be a round of firsts for everyone." Dean tried to joke.

She took Dean's cup from him and set it down on the table. "Now, hold still." She said and took a deep breath and relaxed her body, closed her eyes, and reached forward and touched Dean's chest, right over his heart. Dean watched and waited. It felt like he was waiting for hours, the silence of the kitchen was overwhelming, and it seemed as if he could hear the ticking of his watch and the beat of his heart as he waited. Finally she took a deep breath.

"I found him." Dean's heart sped, excitement, relief, and happiness almost overwhelming him.

"What's he saying?" Dean asked quickly.

Missouri's eyes scrunched up and she said, "Slow down, slow down Sam. I can't tell him all of that that fast."

"What's he saying?" Dean demanded.

"He says that he's been with you for around a year. That he went to hell, and then he was out of hell and trapped inside of you. He knew it was you from the moment he got stuck."

"Is he okay? Does he know how to get out? Is there a way I can talk to him?"

"He's fine. He'd like to have his body back, he doesn't know how, he suggests that you talk to Bobby, and he doesn't know if you guys can talk. He wants you to know that he's safe, and he wants you to tell Cass that he's sorry for hurting him, he didn't realize it was him until he had already hurt him." Dean wanted to cry. That was his Sammy. His Sammy would be sorry for accidentally hurting someone, he would be the one to suggest going to Bobby, that was his brother she was talking to, and the tears of relief stung the backs of his eyes.

"Tell him I'll do whatever it takes."

"He says to not do anything drastic." Dean laughed.

"Whatever. I don't want to be sharing my body with him forever. It'll make that homoerotic subtext those convention people were talking about a little too real." Missouri smiled.

"He says to be careful around his body; he doesn't trust what's going on."

"I don't either." Dean licked his lips. "Tell him it's good to hear from him again."

Missouri took her hand from his chest and it felt like the room popped back into reality. Dean opened his eyes, and a tear fell down. "I can't talk to him anymore?" Dean asked in a voice that held such innocence that it rivaled that of most children.

"You can talk to him whenever you wish Dean."

"But…"

Missouri put a finger over his mouth. "I don't understand it, but that's what I know. He trusts you to do what's right. He knows you will and that you can." Dean nodded and tried to hold back the rest of the tears.

"Thank you Missouri. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smacked him on the arm. "Now get! I need my beauty sleep, and you need to go and figure out a way to get your brother's soul back where it belongs." Dean smiled and nodded.

He hurried out of the house and into the car. He looked into the rearview mirror, and remembered something from a philosophy book he had read 'the eyes are the gateway to the soul' and he wondered if his eyes were also the gateway to Sammy's soul. And just on the off chance that they were, he mumbled. "I'll get this fixed Sammy, I promise." And he started the car and took off for the motel.


	3. Chapter 3

The body of Sam Winchester would be out all night feeding his carnal urges that much Dean knew. He hurried into the room and into the bathroom, changed into his night clothes and washed his face. When he looked up into the mirror he looked directly into his eyes and said "Sammy, if you can hear me, try to get in through my dreams…maybe that's how we can talk….I really need your help with this."

He turned off the light and climbed into bed, but all he could hear was the beating of his heart and all he could feel was the excitement of the possibility of getting to talk to Sam, to see his Sammy again, and his eyes snapped open time after time, and he considered taking the sleeping pills he had in his bag, but the thought of being drugged out when the body of Sam came back didn't sit well with him, and besides, what if a drug induced sleep would inhibit his ability to dream, and then how would he ever get to talk to his brother?

"Come on Dean!" He grumbled at himself, and readjusted himself on his pillow. "You need to sleep." And he fought with himself for an hour before his mind finally gave way and allowed his body to sleep.

His dream started out overlooking the water, and then he was sitting at a picnic table, and before he knew what he was about Sam, clad in his green jacket, white shirt with the red stenciling and red undershirt, sitting in front of him.

"Can you see me Dean?"

"Sammy?" Relief washed over Sam's face.

"You can see me, and hear me." Dean nodded.

"How long have you been in here?" Dean asked.

"I think a year. I've been here long enough to watch you grow attached to Lisa and Ben, and feel horrible that I" Sam used air quotes around the I. "Took you from it. I knew that you'd go. And I'm so sorry about the vampires; I want you to know I would never ever ever…" Dean put a hand up.

"Sammy. I know it wasn't you."

Sam took a deep breath "But, I've been here."

"Why didn't I know?"

"I don't know. I…I didn't try to disturb anything…"

"You had to know that you were disembodied."

"I knew that I was with you. And I felt safe. I didn't…I didn't know how to communicate with you."

"What do we do Sammy? How do we get you fixed?"

"We need to talk to Bobby, he should have something in one of those books that can help us."

"It's not easy getting away from your body. It doesn't sleep."

"That's creepy."

"I know it is."

"I guess we'll have to come up with something. I guess you can always tell him that there is a hunt somewhere, and Bobby could convince him that you would be more valuable to him if you stayed with him."

"I don't think he'd buy that. He has all of your memories."

Sam sighed. "I don't know Dean. But I trust that you will figure it out. I have faith in you."

Dean nodded and looked around. He knew this place. The table was an addition but the water, the grass, the fence, all of it was familiar. "Why did you choose this spot?"

"This is where you told me that Dad told you that you had to save me or kill me." Dean gave him a quizzical look. "It was a place of honesty, and I think that you deserve some honesty in this mess." Dean nodded.

"Sammy, I miss you man."

"I'm right here with you Dean."

Dean shook his head. "It's not the same." He said his voice horse with effort not to cry.

"Lisa has made you soft." Sam said trying to deflect some of the emotions. Dean gave a weak smile. "I have to go now Dean. You're waking up."

"Sammy…"

"Dean! Come on man, we're wasting daylight." Dean sat up and looked into the eyes of the soulless Sam and his heart sank. He sat up and swung his legs over the bed, rubbed his chest where he felt the extra weight of Sam's soul and nodded at the imposter.

"Okay. Okay." He said gruffly and headed to get ready for the day, the conversation with Sam holding promise, and hope, and relief. They would fix this, but for the time being he had a job to do, and this time he wasn't going to screw it up.


	4. Chapter 4

The car ride was quiet and robosam glanced at Dean more than Dean was comfortable with. If it was his Sam that would mean that he wanted to talk, that something was bothering him, that he was worried, that he was angry, that he was feeling something…but this robot version of his brother didn't feel anything, and so his constant glancing his way made Dean sincerely uncomfortable. Dean shifted in his seat and resisted the urge to put a hand against the spot in his chest where it felt like his brother, his real brother, his feeling, caring, loving, guilty, happy, little brother lived inside of him. He didn't want robosam to see him do that, didn't want him to ask the question. Dean finally sighed and turned to face him and said, "What?"

"You are quiet."

"And that matters why?"

Robosam shrugged his shoulders. "It seems that when you get quiet, that you are either angry, or you are hiding something. Which one is it?"

Dean's heart sped up just slightly. He forgot that while robosam wasn't Sam, that he had all of Sam's knowledge, and that wasn't strictly limited to knowledge of why ghosts haunt, or what kind of metal would kill a werewolf. Dean slid his eyes towards the robot pretending to be Sam.

"Neither. I was just thinking about what Bobby could possibly want so badly that he had to see us in person instead of discussing it over the phone."

Robosam shrugged his shoulders. "Bobby would have his reasons. Bobby never does anything needlessly." Dean nodded.

"True."

"Did he mention anything about the hunt?"

"No. He just asked me how close we were to the salvage yard, and then when I said a couple of hours drive, he said to get our asses over there as soon as possible." Robosam nodded once and then dug his phone out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"I'm calling Bobby."

"What for?" Dean asked. "Don't you trust me?"

"What? You think that because you have a soul that makes you unable to lie?" Sam asked coldly.

Dean turned to face the windshield and focused his eyes on the road, his blood was boiling. He hoped that Bobby would be able to sense what was going on, and would back him up, because if he didn't, Dean was worried what the soulless version would do to him. Dean had never been afraid of his gigantic little brother. Even after Sam had pummeled him before he opened the gates to hell and let Lucifer out, Dean knew that the beating was in part due to a comment that inspired heated emotions, to a brother who was hurt, to a man who was so convinced that he was doing what was best, to blood so filled with demon radiation. That beating hadn't been Sam's best or his strongest, Dean had seen Sam beat the tar out of things that had had his rage or his indifference, and Dean knew that it was worse than any beating of which he had been on the receiving end.

Something inside of Dean knew that if this Sam found out what he was doing, if he found out that he had his soul and was going to put it back inside of him whether he wanted it back in there or not (Dean had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't really want his soul back, but it was a convenient excuse to get Dean to do what he wanted, even if that meant working for Crowley) that it would result in some form of permanent pain that one can only learn to inflict in the bowels of hell.

"Bobby. It's Sam." He heard his brother say and he prayed to God that Bobby would have the good sense to play along.

"Dean said you called and have a hunt for us."

"So, what is it?" Dean let out a breath he didn't' realize he was holding. Bobby was playing along. "Really? You can't tell me over the phone? Come on Bobby…" Sam paused. "That is true, but if we are working for Crowley what does it matter if he has the car wired?" Dean sighed at the thought, Crowley had done it once and it stood to reason that he would do it again, and Sam's logic was sound, what truly did it matter if Crowley heard what they were doing? But from Sam's intermittent nodding and affirmation sounds Dean was pleased to note that Bobby had at least figured out a good reason to give robosam.

"Kay, Bobby, we'll be there in a few." Sam hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket.

"You happy?" Dean asked.

"I'm satisfied. I can't be happy, we've been there already Dean."

"Figure of speech Sam. My God how did you survive around people without me for a whole year?"

"Well…" Dean cut him off with a sideways glance. "Oh that was rhetorical."

"Yes, that was rhetorical." The knot in Dean's stomach relaxed slightly. One hurdle navigated, two million left to go.

SNSNSNSNSN

The first time that Dean and Bobby had a second alone was when Sam was taking a shower. Bobby found Dean in the center of the living room floor frantically flipping through a book.

"Dean?"

"No time Bobby, Robosam takes a shower quicker than any man alive." Bobby strode to the younger man and put a hand on the book effectively stopping him from flipping through it.

"I need to know what is going on." Dean looked up into the older man's face, sighed and listened for the shower for a second and then beckoned Bobby to move closer.

"I know where Sam's soul is." Bobby's eyes widened.

"The son of a bitch told you?"

"No. I found it on my own. Well sort of."

"Where is it?" Dean tapped his chest.

"He's right here. He's been right here the whole time. Cass confirmed it."

"How in the hell did it get all up in you?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know, Sammy doesn't know either. I asked him in a dream. He just said that he knew he was safe with me." Bobby shook his head.

"Damn, I knew you two were tighter than two tics on a dog's ass, but damn."

Dean chuffed. "Yeah. I need to figure out how to get him out of me, and back into that robot up there." Bobby pushed his cap back off of his head and scratched his head and then put it back down and pulled it down.

"Boy, how does this happen to you?"

"I don't know. But right now I'm so happy to know where his soul is, that I don't care. Bobby, he's not lost. He's here. He's been safe for the last year, he hasn't been tortured in hell, do you know how much of a relief that is?" The water turned off, and the old pipes groaned. Bobby and Dean separated afraid that Sam could be right around the corner listening and waiting to figure out what they were talking about, and both knew how important it was to keep this on the down low, to keep it away from the robot that passed itself off as Sam Winchester.

Dean rubbed the spot on his chest again. They needed to figure this out as soon as possible, Dean needed Sammy on the outside, Dean needed his little brother back and at his back, he needed his little brother's sense of humor, his guilt, his concern, his empathy, and his compassion.

Robosam came down the stairs, hair wet, face bright and clean from washing, he was rolling up his sleeves and when he saw Bobby and Dean in the living room, each with a book in his hands, he clapped his hands together and said, "Okay, Crowley's second in command, what do we know?" He asked with what could pass for glee in his eyes, Dean and Bobby sighed inwardly.


	5. Chapter 5

They worked for the better part of a day trying to figure out who was Crowley's second, and they were getting no where fast. Absolutely no where. But Sam was relentless, he wouldn't stop no matter how much Bobby and Dean cajoled.

"Look I need to get up. My legs are cramping. Old men aren't meant to sit this long." Bobby said and stood. Sam didn't even glance up, he simply nodded.

Dean stayed put, pinching his bottom lip with his right thumb and forefinger, concentrating heavily on the piece of text in front of him. "Found something." Robosam announced and startled Dean's concentration. He looked up and Sam was getting to his feet.

"What did you find?" Dean asked distractedly. He heard Sam's footfalls and he looked up and watched as the man who looked like his brother came closer and stood next to him, he dropped a book on the table in front of Dean and stood next to him and reached across Dean's body and Dean felt a tightness in his chest, absently he put a hand to his rib cage and looked up at Sam for him to continue. Sam oblivious to Dean's discomfort began, "This." Sam pointed to a picture and the discomfort in Dean's chest worsened. He winced and Robosam took no notice "This is the demon that I think has the juice to be Crowley's second."

"And?"

"And I think we should do the ritual to call this guy up." Sam said and rested his hip against the table. 

With every movement Robosam made, the more Dean's chest ached, tightened, and burned. It finally got so bad that Dean got up and walked away from his brother's body. He leaned up against the wall and sighed, trying to make it look casual, like he was just tired and needed to move. He ran a hand over his tired eyes and said, "And once we have this guy here, what do we ask? Hey dude, we want to screw over your boss, because we want your soul back?" He asked and unconsciously put his hand on his chest that was still burning.

Sam's body shrugged. "We'll figure it out when we get him here. It's not like you don't' know how to get demons to talk." Robosam said off handedly.

"What?"

"You did your time in hell, you know how to get at the truth."

"I don't torture anymore Sam."

"It's just a demon."

"But it will be in the body of an innocent human." The ach started again, and this time it felt as if one of his ribs was going to break, it felt like something was trying to push its way out of his chest, and he winced.

"You okay?" Sam asked off handedly.

"What do you care?"

Sam's body shrugged. "I need you healthy so you can get the truth." And the pushing intensified, Dean felt the sweat bead on his forehead, and he swallowed the grunt down.

"I'm fine." Dean said through gritted teeth. The pressure was intense and unrelenting.

"Bobby?" Sam called. Sam came to Dean and touched his shoulder and it was like ice and heat warring with itself on his skin, and he let out an involuntary scream. He slid down the wall until his knees were in front of his face and his butt was firmly planted on the ground. It felt like Bobby was there instantly, and his hand replaced Sam's and the heat and ice subsided.

"Boy?"

"I'm okay Bobby. I'm okay."

"I'm going to go and get the stuff for the ritual. You have him Bobby?" Sam asked as he pulled on his coat completely unfazed by his brother's issues.

"Fine. Go." Bobby said quickly.

"I'm taking the car Dean." He said as if everything was normal and okay, and the pain flared again in Dean's chest, and the keys were extracted from Dean's coat, and the door opened and shut, and the pain was no longer a burning intensity, and Dean could breathe again.

"Dean. You okay? What's going on boy?" Bobby asked and helped Dean into a sitting position.

"I don't know. I really don't know." Dean took a big gulp of air, and ran his hand over his eyes, and through his hair. "The closer he got to me the more it felt like something was trying to break out of my ribs, and then when he touched me, the heat, and ice…" Dean swallowed.

"Sammy?"

"I don't' know. I mean, I've apparently been housing his soul for a year, and for God's sake I hugged him and didn't feel anything like this before."

Bobby ran a hand through his beard worried for the only "child" he had left. "You need to do something, you are going to be in a room with him often. You can't feel like this every single time he gets close. He'll suspect something."

Dean nodded and held his hand out and Bobby helped the younger man to his feet. Dean took a deep breath, steadied himself on his feet and nodded and Bobby let go of him. "I think I'll call Missouri while he's gone, see what I can find out."

"Do that."

Dean went to the chair in front of the desk and sat down and took a breath, took out his phone, and dialed the psychic's number. "Dean?" she answered.

"Hey Missouri."

"What's wrong?"

"I think….Sam's soul…"

"is active. Your angel friend woke him up."

"What?"

"When he checked to see if you have two souls in you, you woke up your brother." Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. This was getting ridiculous.

"Dude, seriously." He said before thinking

"Watch your tone boy."

"Sorry. But you have to be kidding me."

"No. Your brother is trying to protect you from the inside."

"By burning my chest, and breaking my ribs?"

"It's all he can do."

"How do I stop it?"

"That's always what you want isn't it Dean."

"What?"

"You are always searching for a way to stop something, to make it better, to put something back the way it was, boy, your brother's soul isn't something that is quiet and docile. It isn't just a thing, it is your brother, it is who he is, what he is, it is everything that makes him him….and you can't just stop him."

"Missouri…"

"He's awake and aware, and he's going to do what he sees fit. You know your brother better than anyone…he's not going to let you get hurt…you know that."

"But I need him to get back into that sasquatch of a body, and be there, not in me." Dean sighed and rested his head on the table. Life was just so freaking strange anymore.

"Baby, you'll find away. You always do." Dean sighed.

"Thanks Missouri." He hung up the phone threw it on the table, and hit his forehead a couple of timed against the wood.


	6. Chapter 6

That night he tried to talk to Sam, tried to get him to come into his dreams and discuss this, tried to get him to help him bounce ideas off the wall so to speak and come up with a solution. But in typical Sam Winchester style, when he didn't want to talk he didn't, and when he didn't want to talk he often just left, went on a walk, or went to the library and read, or he would simply lock himself in the bathroom for privacy. Sam knew how not to talk, and apparently that still held true even if he was trapped inside Dean's body.

He tried for several nights to get Sam to talk to him, wracked his brain for a solution to this crazy new crisis, and tried desperately to keep his distance from Sam's body, because no matter how many dreams Dean had where he screamed at Sammy to not try to bust out and kill the bastard that was wearing Sam's face, he didn't seem to listen, another typical Sam trait. When Sam thought he was doing the right thing he plowed ahead without heed to anyone else. He'd done it all of his life and he was still doing it, however, this time, it required Dean to bite his tongue to keep from screaming with pain.

He'd heard that the eyes were the window to a person's soul, and if that was true, were his eyes a window to two souls? And now without Sam's soul answering him in his dreams, and not laying off of the Klingon pain stick he seemed to have and liked to poke into Dean's ribs, he decided that it couldn't hurt anything other than his pride to try and talk to Sam that way. It took a couple of days of courage gathering and effort to find a place and time to be able to have this one sided conversation without RoboSam seeing and hearing and without Bobby watching. He finally got his chance and he went for it. He stood in front of the old mirror in the bathroom, looked himself in the mirror, straight into his eyes and said in his best stern voice, "Look Sam. You are hurting me. A Lot. I can't go on like this. I either need you to come up with something and help me, or just take a freaking nap or something. Because you trying to burn my ribs, or break them, or whatever in the hell you are doing, every time your RoboSam body comes around isn't doing anything other than making my tongue bleed. Geeze Sam." He said and moved away from the mirror equally hoping that it would work and feeling stupid.

And much to Dean's shock it did. That evening while RoboSam and Dean were planning their trip to go and find and kill Crowley's second, Dean's ribs didn't ach, and he didn't' want to howl out in pain. His stomach sloshed and grumbled and hurt a little, and Dean knew it was his brother stewing in anger, and he wouldn't begrudge Sam that. A little stomach pain was the least of Dean's ever mounting list of worries.

"Okay, I think we should leave now." RoboSam said.

"Dude, I've been u p for over twenty four hours…"

"You've done it before, remember when you were on your way to hell…"

"That was different. I couldn't sleep. I need sleep. I want to be able to come at this fresh in the morning. Why don't you go find something to hang upside down from or something equally as creepy." Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and left the shell that looked like his brother in a huff.

Dean didn't' bother taking off his boots or his jacket, he simply fell onto the bed and sleep followed.

Sam was pacing impatiently in the same wooded area where he had last seen him. When he saw Dean exasperation filled his eyes. "My god, why can't you get the hint? I've been waiting for you for hours."

"Well isn't that a fine how do you do, from the soul who wouldn't come when I asked night after night." Sam gave him the patented bitch face and Dean couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I know how to fix this."

"Oh do tell." Dean said and sat on top of the picnic table.

"We need to get to Missouri, and have her do the thing that Pamela did."

"Die?"

"Are you purposefully being thick?"

"I'm tired Sam."

"You weren't too tired this whole week when all you did was scream and look for me."

"Well you wore me down." Sam rolled his eyes.

"You remember when she pulled our souls out and we were able to walk around in the spirit world." Dean nodded.

"Well that's what we need to do now. Have Missouri do the same thing except pull both of us out and when she puts us back she can put me back into my own body. Then this whole thing will be fixed."

"You seem very confident about this."

"It makes sense."

"I don't' want her to die because of us."

"Dean…she won't die."

"How do you know Sam? Every time someone helps us they die, Bobby's died, Cass has died, I've died, you've died, we've been to hell, heaven, back in time, out of time, forward in time….." Dean took a breath. "She doesn't need to have us blacken her door with our crap. She's managed to stay pretty much out of this…"

"Why are you fighting this all of the sudden?" Sam asked exasperatedly running his hands through his hair. "You've been begging me night and day to get the hell out of you and now that I come up with a solution you drag your damn feet! What is the matter with you?"

"I just don't want to risk getting any more of our friends hurt…I don't want anyone else to end up dead because of us."

"Dean….we won't force her to do this, if she doesn't want to we'll find another way. It will be her choice to help us. Remember? Team Free Will? That's us dude. Come on."

"Sam…"

"Dean…come on."

"I just don't…." Sam stopped and cocked his head to one side as if listening to something. He turned back to Dean eyes wide and amazed.

"You don't want to let me go because you're afraid that you won't be able to protect me."

Dean immediately jumped on the defensive. "I didn't say that!"

Sam stepped forward. "No, you didn't' say anything, but I've been stuck in here for quite a while, and I've learned how to listen." Sam licked his lips. "How dumb have I been? Of course you want me out, but of course you don't' want me back out either. As long as I'm right here you can protect me and call the shots, and make sure nothing else bad ever happens to me."

"Sam…"

"For once in your damn life Dean Winchester, admit to what you really think and God forbid feel!"

"Sam….I'm….I…" Dean stumbled unable to confirm or deny what his little brother said. All of it was true, they both knew it, but Dean had learned long ago that it was safer to keep your mouth shut about your feelings and just keep on going, that wasn't' something that he could just simply change all in one day.

"Dean, you can't protect me forever."

"No shit." Dean said with a roll of his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Say it."

"No."

"Say it!"

"I'm not like you Sam! I'm not just going to spill everything and leave a wake behind me. I'm not going to destroy someone or something because it makes ME feel better. I'm not like that. I won't do it!"

"You think I ruin things?"

"I didn't say…"

"What did you say then?" Dean stood there and fumed. "Come on Dean…"

"I've done such a piss poor job of protecting you that here we are, sharing a body, had I done my job you would be safe and sound in your own body and you would never ever have to know what it was like to house the devil in your skin. I've screwed up too much Sam. It's my fault we're here."

Sam took a deep breath. "Time to get over it Dean. Time to fix this and move on. I'm a grown man and I make my own choices, the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be. Now. Go find Missouri, and let's get me back where I belong." And with that Sam disappeared, and Dean wanted to wrap his hands around his bother's throat. Sam had a knack for doing that, stirring someone up and then leaving them to stew.


	7. Chapter 7

When Dean woke up, he went on a mission. He texted Missouri and asked her to meet him in Iowa, where RoboSam thought they would find Crowley's second. She simply texted, 'already there'. And Dean smiled. Once in a while things worked out in his favor.

He hurried down stairs, dressed, ready and smiling. "Hey Sam! Get the led out, let's get going."

RoboSam drew his eyebrows together, and he had a soul Dean would have suspected that Sam knew something wasn't right, and he even anticipated, out of habit, RoboSam saying something like 'you're awful chipper….you okay?' but instead RoboSam said, "You are up earlier than anticipated. You usually sleep exactly four hours, wake up from a dream, go to the bathroom, and then sleep for another two hours. You are ahead of your usual schedule." RoboSam said with casual indifference.

In an effort not to wince and the oddity of that statement, Dean simply shrugged, hoping it looked nonchalant. "I figured if I was up we might as well kick it and get this show on the road." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Come on, pack your crap, we need to roll."

"I did that already. It's in the car. I was simply waiting for you to finish sleeping." RoboSam blinked once. The willies were crawling up Dean's spine and it took serious effort to keep his body language in check, the years of honing his skills as a liar allowed him put on a casual smile and nod his head.

"Okay then. I'm gonna say bye to Bobby and we're out." RoboSam nodded, moved to the door, opened it, and left. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. He needed a moment to collect his thoughts, convince himself to be in the car with the trained, human looking, killing machine, and said a quick p Dean shook his head, hoping to shake away the weird feeling that RoboSam left all over Dean. Dean shouted a good-bye to the old hunter, took a fortifying breath and joined the shell of his brother in the car, and took off at a break neck speed for Iowa.

They drove for hours, got stuck in traffic, took a detour, and were back on the main drag, half way there, and Dean still had no idea how he was going to get RoboSam to not pay attention for thirty seconds so he could slip the drugs into the giant man's drink that was currently pinned in between his legs while he thumbed through pages on the demon that had become Crowley's second.

"I'm gonna stop." Dean finally braved when he saw a sign alerting travelers to amenities. RoboSam looked up from the paper he was studying and turned to look at Dean, and the slowness of the motion reminded Dean of an evil robot intent on destroying all human life, and that look coming out from his brother's hazel eyes made his stomach burn.

"You hungry?" RoboSam asked.

"Yes. And I think we both need to hit the head." RoboSam nodded. Dean felt the surge of relief pulse through his body. If he can get Sam away from his drink just long enough, this could actually work out. But tangled up in the relief was the knowledge that nothing ever came easy to a man with the last name of Winchester.

Dean waited for Sam to go to the bathroom, and he poured the colorless odorless powder into his brother's drink, mixed it up, and pretended to be eating when Sam returned from the bathroom, and Dean tried not to watch with eagerness and hope as RoboSam ate and drank.

A small wave of satisfaction pulsed through Dean when Sam finished the last of his drug laced Coke a Cola in one long draught. Sam put the cup on the table and looked at Dean with those same emotionless robot eyes and said "Let's go." Dean took a final bite of his sandwich, threw money on the table and followed the shell of his brother.

And just like everything else in Dean's life, his bed laid plans weren't so well done after all. RoboSam didn't fall unconscious, he simply got wobbly, disoriented, and confused. However, he wasn't confused enough to not realize that Dean had drugged him, and the body of Sam Winchester, took a swing at the elder Winchester, Dean swerved, and caught the hand, and stopped the punch before it landed home on his jaw. And Dean bit his lip, apologized and punched RoboSam hard enough to knock him out.

"That's 16 times I've hit you since you've come back." Dean mumbled and shook his head with remorse.

He sped the rest of the way to the house he had promised to meet Missouri. She was waiting outside when he pulled the sleek black Impala up the drive.

"There you boys are! Sure took you long enough." She admonished.

Dean licked his lips and sighed. "Sammy with soul I know how to maneuver. Sam without soul is much more difficult." He said by way of excuse.

"Get him out of the car." She demanded. Dean nodded, and pulled his brother's heavy body out of the car, and put him in the grass beside the gravel drive way.

"Do you want him inside?" Dean asked, hoping that he wasn't going to have to maneuver Sam into a fireman's carry.

"No. No. This will be fine." Missouri said distractedly and knelt beside Sam's face. "Come here." She said with a motion over her shoulder to Dean. Dean knelt down beside her.

"What do you want me—"

"Shhhhhh." She demanded. She put one hand on Sam's chest and one hand on Dean's. She closed her eyes seeming to take stock, trying to ascertain something, and slowly the warmth of her little hand was removed from his chest and she turned, clear black eyes full of emotion, to Dean. "There will be consequences."

"There are always are." Dean said without humor.

"Dean…"

"Look. Can we make this better or not?" Dean snapped. He didn't want to hear that she couldn't help, that he would, in fact, have to resort to plan B. Plan B made his stomach sour. Once he put his brother down like a dog, he would have to turn the gun on himself. He couldn't live with the idea of putting a bullet in his brother's brain.

"Don't you snap at me boy! I'm the one doing you a favor!" Dean closed his eyes and calmed himself down. She was right. She was the one about to do a huge favor for him, and he had no right to be disrespectful to her.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Missouri softened at the apology. She knew what it took from Dean Winchester to apologize.

"I want you to know, that pulling Sam's soul out of your body won't be as easy as it sounds."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because, his soul and yours are all mixed up."

"Mixed up?"

"You and your brother have always had a special bond, something that angels and demons alike wanted to destroy because it would make you two easier to destroy, and that bond is what saved the world, it is what secured Lucifer's spot in the cage." Dean nodded. "And now that Sam's soul has lived inside of you for over a year, the two of you have sort of…." She was at a loss for words and instead she laced her fingers together, and looked up at Dean. "Connected?"

"So…"

"So, pulling Sam apart from your soul, will hurt both of you. Each of you will have pieces of the other still inside of them. There will be no way to cut you apart cleanly."

"So, we're like Siamese twins. Awesome."

"There are some people who would give their lives to be connected to another person like the two of you are connected." Dean had no words. He just stared.

"Now, are you ready for me to do this? This will hurt you just as much as it will hurt Sam."

"A little pain never stopped me." Missouri gave him a small sad smile, she knew how true that was. Every time she felt his presence, his mind, his will, it was almost like she could smell the stench of burning flesh, the wounds from Hell would never go away, and they would always affect him.

She touched Dean's chest, and then put a hand on Sam's and she began to concentrate, and began slicing the two souls apart, and she tried to ignore Dean's screams, tried to ignore the pounding in her mind as Sam was torn away, and pushed through her aura into his own body. The painful ordeal ended with both men screaming and Missouri passed out in between them.

Dean sat up first, chest heaving, throat sore, and he reached over and checked on Missouri, she was breathing, her heart was steady, and he looked away from her face and saw Sam starring at him.

"She okay?" Sam asked.

"She's good."

"Let's get her inside." Sam said and got to his feet, took a moment to regain his equilibrium, and helped his brother help Missouri into the house. They put her on the bed and left the bedroom.

Dean rubbed his chest, the ach inside was more painful than he expected.

"Me too." Sam said. Dean looked up at his brother.

"I'm glad you're back Sammy."

"Good to be back." Dean stepped over the divide and hugged his brother. Both hung on for dear life, and after a few moments they stepped back, looked at one another and knew, what the other was thinking, knew what the other one was feeling, and neither knew if it was because they still shared bits and pieces of the other's soul, or if it was because they were just feeling the same thing. But in that second, they just simply didn't care.

For once the universe let things go right for the Winchesters.


End file.
